The Partially Examined Life is a podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a short text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we're talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion. For links to the texts we discuss and other info, check out www.partiallyexaminedlife.com. We also feature episodes from other podcasts by our hosts to round out your partially examined life, including Pretty Much Pop (prettymuchpop.com, covering all media), Nakedly Examined Music (nakedlyexaminedmusic.com, deconstructing songs), Philosophy vs. Improv (philosophyimprov.com, fun with performance skills and philosophical ideas), and (sub)Text (subtextpodcast.com, looking deeply at lit and film). Learn about more network podcasts at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
http://partiallyexaminedlife.com
Episode 145: Emmanuel Levinas: Why Be Ethical? (Part Two)
Continuing on "Ethics as First Philosophy" (1984) and other essays.
We try to complete Levinas's story on how revealing the flawed, aggressive character of our culture and personal attitudes can lead us to recognition of the ethical demand of the Other. Why, look, there's a Face right there, which, whatever actual expression might be on it, betrays first and foremost vulnerability: we recognize death in viewing another person, and with it time (you don't get much of a sense of time by yourself on an island, for instance).
So does this really reflect your experience, and if not, is that just because you're too used to the grasping character of knowledge and self-assertion? We found this intriguing enough, and our treatment of the "Time and the Other" essay skimpy enough, that episode 146 will be about that 1948 essay, which presents a different journey to essentially the same destination.
Listen to part 1 first, or get the ad-free Citizen Edition.
Buy the The Levinas Reader, which contains all of the essays we read, or try this online version.
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End song: "To Valerie" from The MayTricks' So Chewy (1993). Download the album for free.
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